Shloka 10
इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्
Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration
किंतु त्रेतामें वह धर्म अधर्मके एक पादसे अभिभूत होकर अपने तीन अंशोंसे ही प्रतिष्ठित होता है। द्वापरमें धर्म आधा ही रह जाता है। आधेमें अधर्म आकर मिल जाता है
kintu tretāyāṃ sa dharmo 'dharmasyaikapādenābhibhūtaḥ svatribhāgair eva pratiṣṭhito bhavati | dvāpare dharmo 'rdhamātraḥ pariśiṣyate | ardhe 'dharmo 'pi samāgacchati ||
“Nhưng sang thời Tretā, Dharma bị Adharma lấn át một phần tư và chỉ còn đứng vững bằng ba phần sức mạnh xưa. Đến thời Dvāpara, Dharma chỉ còn một nửa; và ngay trong nửa ấy, Adharma cũng chen vào, hòa lẫn.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the yuga-based decline of moral order: Dharma loses strength progressively—reduced to three quarters in Tretā due to a quarter of Adharma, and reduced to half in Dvāpara where Adharma mixes into what remains—highlighting that ethical clarity and social righteousness diminish over time.
Mārkaṇḍeya is explaining to his listeners the changing condition of the world across ages (yugas), describing how Dharma and Adharma relate in Tretā and Dvāpara as part of a broader discourse on cosmic cycles and moral history.